My Arabic studies have taken a bit of a slump.  I’ve missed a couple days of class, cuz my stomach has been killing me.  So I’ve got a lot of reviewing to do, b/c I’ve got a test this Tuesday.  Ma’alaish…

Muslims, especially those who are practicing, tend to believe that all other Muslims are in general good ppl, and abide by Islamic codes of conduct.  If they see somebody w/ a beard, or hijab, praying 5 times a day, fasting during Ramadan, reading/memorizing Quran, the natural assumption is “Masha’allah, this brother/sister is a good Muslim/Muslima.”  And when one meets a Muslim, many times it is automatically assumed he/she is a good person, a decent person.  Why would one assume otherwise?  For Allah commands good conduct, righteous deeds, enjoining the good, forbidding the evil, and so on.

That is why when one feels an intense feel of betrayal when the Muslim falls short of possessing Islamic qualities. ”But he’s Muslim… how could he???” “She prays 5 times a day!” “He is a Hafiz [one who has memorized the entire Quran by heart]“

I am not referring here to terrorists per se, since it can be argued that Muslim terrorists might actually believe that the atrocities they are committing are Islamic.    Though one might feel the same sense of betrayal when hearing about terrorism.  My focus is more on those Muslims who committ crimes knowing that it isn’t from Islam. 

These types of Muslims, unfortunately, are too common, especially in Muslim countries.  Those that  will greet you with “Salaam” and a smile, ask if they can help you with anything, and then as soon as they get the chance steal from you, or cheat you, or lie, or try and commit Zina. This also includes those that speak about righteousness and ethics to your face, but then you find out what they are engaged in, and a strong feeling of disgust, sadness, and anger overtakes you.  You feel betrayed.  Because how could he, he is a Muslim after all? 

Sometimes, if a person doesn’t have strong Imaan, such people can cause doubt in their Faith. This is dangerous.

Part of the problem is our own biases, our tendency to judge people.  Too often our judgements are formed by superficial observations… such as a man with a beard or a sister wearing the head scarf is automatically classified as pious.  And too often the converse, unfortunately, is true: a man without a beard, and a sister without a head scarf is deemed impious.  We want to classify people as either bad, or good.  But too often this is naive, if not dangerous.

That isn’t to say keeping the beard, or wearing the scarf, or any other outward actions, are not commendable.  Indeed, they are.  But we should be careful not to assume that just b/c a person appears to be religious, that he/she actually is religious.  We should deem the actions as being righteous actions, and withold any judgment on their nature.

In Imam Nawawi’s famous collection of the Sayings of the Prophet, it is mentioned, “‘Abdullah ibn ‘Utba ibn Mas’ud reported that he heard ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab say, “Some people were dealt with by the revelation in the time of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The revelation has ceased. Now we deal with you according to what is clear to us from your actions. If anyone shows us good, we trust him and honour him. We know nothing of his inward. Allah will call him to reckoning in respect of his inward. If anyone shows us evil, we do not trust him and do not believe him, even if he says that his inward is good.” [al-Bukhari] So outward actions do inform our judgment in a person, but we should be careful and have some wisdom, and not assume too much.  Otherwise, you will be sorry.

On a somewhat similar note, some Muslims tend to think that just because one is a non-Muslim, that person is evil.  I have found this type of thinking amongst some Muslims here in Egypt.  This type of thinking is also problematic, and is based more on a combination of personal experiences, emotions, and politics, rather than on Scripture.  I have a friend here also from the States who is taking Arabic classes, and he tells me about the types of debates he gets into with his teacher.  The teacher makes ridiculous statements, and my friend feels the need, because he is an academic, to debate with him (he so would fit in at UChicago).

Here are a few of the teacher’s statements: Jews and Christians have always been plotting against Islam… America doesn’t actually give Muslims the freedom to practice their religion, America is the enemy of Muslims, etc

What amazes me about these debates, is the lack of thinking by Muslims like his teacher.  It would take up too much and space to get into the details of the debates and refutations, but suffice it to say that many times there is a gap in consistency. 

Even the most cursory perusal of the Prophet’s life will show the position of Islam has not been to consider all non-Muslims as evil.  In fact, throughout Islamic history Muslims have received help from non-Muslims.  From the days of the Prophet, when he along with his followers were boycotted by Mecca, certain non-Muslim sympathizers would sneak food to him and his followers. 

Not to get too hippy or anything, but to form judgments of people’s goodness or ‘evilness’ is not something to be taken lightly.  I am not saying love everybody… but just be extremely sure that when you create a judgment of a person, you have done on it some solid evidence.

 Finally, although the world is full of not-so-Muslim Muslims, and at times it can be devestating… there are also those beautiful personalities that remind you of the elegance  and purity of Islam. I have been fortunate, Alhumdulillah, in meeting such brothers here.  It saddens me because many of these brothers have returned back home.  But they were truly unique personalities, who have impacted me in immeasurable ways. We came from different places, with different ideas and leanings, but were all united by our Imaan and love for Islam.  The following are just some brief words about some of them:

http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s169/familypix_1/Egypt/ProfilePics/

1. Abdul Nasir  – this guy was the life of the group.  At age 47, he was more youthful than all of us combined.  He was non-stop comedy… always planning trips and going all over Egypt.  He probably did more… went to Alexandria, Red Sea, Sharm al-Sheikh, Mt. Sinai, Aswan, and other places… in the one month that he was here than most ppl do their whole life.

AbdurRaheem — Always smiling and never angry, he was, along with Ameen, the nicest person I have met in my entire life, Masha’Allah.  He has only been a Muslim for a little over a year, but knows just as much as me, if not more, about Islam.  Proud parent of two beautiful daughters, aged 7 and 6 months, he couldn’t wait to get back to his wife and family. His conversion is nothing short of beautiful.  I wouldn’t do justice in relating it.

Ameen — A Bosnian brother, married to a Somalian, living in Sweeden, but getting his PHD in Political Science in Italy, Ameen was full of wisdom.  He was along with AbdurRaheem one of the nicest people’s I have met, Masha’Allah.  He was also my fellow classmate, and made class interesting. 

Azm — Always donning a white thobe with a full beard on his face, my initial reaction to him was “This guy is gonna be no fun.”  I couldn’t have been farther from the truth.  He was perhaps the most fun person… and my partner in crime for Sufi Night.  Currently doing Hifz, Masha’Allah, he was such a down-to-earth, chill brother.  Cairo’s just not as fun without him.

May Allah bless all these brothers, and make them from among the People of Jannah. Amin.

Salaam, 

Mohsin 

In my past posts, I have mentioned some of the things I like about being in Egypt… being around Muslims, studying Islam, going to Masjid al-Azhar, etc.  And Alhumudlillah, for the most part, I’ve been loving Egypt.  However, my experience here hasn’t been w/out its downsides.  But I see these as opportunities…. for character building.  You can never have too much character.  If there is one thing I have learned in my past three years at the University of Chicago, its the importance of character building.  So, the following are a couple of character building activities I have had the good fortune of being a part of, just in the past weekAlhumdulillah:

 1. Laundry.    If I used to think laundry was a pain before… I’ll never complain again in America.  I don’t have a washing machine in my apartment, but my friend who lives beneath me does, so I use his.  And when I say waching machine, what I really mean is a blue and yellow barrell that has a little motor that moves water around.  You pour water into it, have to add soap, throw in clothes, and the ‘washing machine’ moves the clothes around.  Then you have to empty the water… and rinse the clothes to get all the soap off.  The first time I did it, i used way too much soap, so i was scrubbing and rinsing my clothes forever. 

Then comes the drying. We have no dryer, to give it the nice fluff feel to it… u know… that nice soft feeling of the clothes when it touches against ur skin.  Instead, we hang out it in the sun… and we get the nice hard feeling of wearing a piece of cardboard when we put the clothes on… good and crunchy.  Here are some pics of my laundy experiences: http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s169/familypix_1/Laundry/

Alternatively, I can give all my clothes to the laundry ppl at the corner of the street, and they’ll wash and iron everything, including my boxers, for about $6.  It doesn’t seem much in dollars… but for an Egyptian student like me… its a rip off. Plus… I wouldn’t get any character building if I just did that.  

2. Water.   Some of the most character building I have done has been in the bathroom.  You always have to stay on your toes… u never know when the water will just stop  on you.  Just this morning, I was all lathered up w/ soap and shampoo, when all of a sudden, the water stops.  I’m just standing there, desperately turning all the faucets, hoping something will come, yet to no avail.  I won’t even describe what I did next. (sorry, no pictures).

Suffice it to say that having running water water on a consistence basis is overrated… where is the fun in that? 

 Sometimes, we don’t even realize the comfortable lives we are living in back in America.  I live in Madinat Nasr, which is a relatively well off area in Cairo… so I’m not even complaining.  I’ve seen areas which compared to them, I am living as king.  And Alhumdulillah for that.  But such small things as running water, clothes to wear, a place to live are taken for granted, we don’t even realize what a blessing it really is to live in a place like America.  And like I said, I live in a relatively well off part of Cairo… I can only imagine what it would be like to live in a rural area of Egypt.  Alhumdulillah.   

Speaking of America… this Sunday is my cousin’s wedding.  Unfortunately I won’t be there for it.  They have been having all these wedding festivities this past week, and I’ve been hearing about them through phone and email.  But I’ve gotten used to missing out on family occassions since I moved to Chicago.  This isn’t anything new I guess.  My cousin sent me some pics of some of the pre-wedding gatherings… I found the following two amusing:

http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s169/familypix_1/Rida%20Ayra/

 Those are my cousins and my two nieces.  The girl in the middle and the one in front are my nieces.  Notice the one boy in the picture… he looks pissed!  And probably for good reason.  Just look at, hes surrounded by girls… all dressed in pink and all.  Any self-respecting boy would be pissed in that situation.  Haha… poor kid.

But Masha’allah… I only get to see my little cousins and nieces in 3 month intervals, because I live in Chicago, and every time it they’ve gotten so much bigger, Subhanallah. 

Insha’allah in my next post will be  dedicated to all the brothers that I lived and learned with, and bonded with in the past month here in Egypt, and who have now returned back home. 

Salaam,

 Mohsin

Still in Egypt, and Alhudulillah things are good. This will be somewhat of a long post, since I haven’t posted in a while. Last Friday (almost 2 weeks ago) I met up with a friend of mine from University of Chicago, Omer Mozaffar, at Masjid al-Azhar after Jumaa’. Hes working on his PHD in the Near Eastern Languages and Civlizations Department. I also ran into a friend of Fahd’s there as well, which was random. But Subhanallah, I had been wanting to see him again because the next day he was leaving Egypt, and I wanted to say my Salaams to him, and that very day I randomly ran into him.

I like praying Jumaa’ at Masjid al-Azhar… there is something about the place. Before Jumaa Salaah they have recitation of the Quran, and usually it’s a beautiful recitation. This time they were reciting Surah Al-Rahman… and Masha’Allah it was moving. It might not have been the best recitation I have heard, but the combination of being at Masjid al-Azhar, it being Jumaa’, and being surrounded by Muslims added to the power of the verses. I was nearly moved to tears about the 4^th or so time the Qari recited the repetitive verse asking how many of Allah’s signs and mercy will we deny. It sent chills down my back. I would recommend everybody to read the English translation and hear a recitation of Surah Rahman. Even if you’re not Muslim… it will undoubtedly have some effect.

Somebody recommended I go pray Jumaa’ at Sultan Hassan Masjid, but apparently it has some graves in it… unfortunately… so I would prefer not praying there, even if it is allowed to pray in masjids with graves under certain conditions. Prayer is too serious of a matter to risk not being accepted.

At any rate, I had lunch with Omer Mozaffar afterwards. Hes in Egypt doing a 1 month summer intensive course in Arabic at Al-Azhar university. It was good talking to him and seeing a friendly face…not to say Egyptians don’t have friendly faces. Like I said before, I keep being told I look Egyptian. This one cab driver insisted I was of Arab origin after I told him I am originally Pakistani. He started swearing by Allah that I am of Arab descent, I was like Alhumdulillah, that’s what my Grandfather says as well. If you’re ever in a foreign country… cab drivers are fun to strike up conversations w/. In fact, I usually get cheaper rates for Cabs when I am by myself or the cab driver hasn’t seen the ppl I am riding w/. If they know ur a foreigner, they will try hiking up the price. But they usually don’t realize I am a foreigner until about 1 min into the conversation, and by that time he has already agreed to the cheaper Egyptian price.

I was also sick this past week, and missed 2 days of school. And today we had a practice test, and I did fairly poorly. Its not cuz I’ve been slacking off. I’ve gotten a lot busier. My daily schedule from Saturday-Wed is class from 8am to 1pm, then private tutoring on Sarf (morphology) from 1:15 to 2:15, then memorizing and going over my tajweed lessons, then the actual tajweed lessons at the Masjid from 6:30 until 8pm. W/ the sickness, I wasn’t putting in as much time on studying my Arabic lessons. I think the teacher was a bit disappointed. On my first test, I had 2 mistakes, and on the second only 1. On both occasions I had guaranteed ppl I would be getting a perfect. Tomorrow is the 3^rd exam, and Im gonna go out on a limb and make a public guarantee I will get a perfect. Book it.

On a completely unrelated note… today was my Birthday… I am officially 21. One of my roommates knocked on my door at midnight, and started singing the Arabic version of Happy Birthday, “Sana Hilwa, Ya Jameel”… hes the 3rd year PHD sudent at Berkely Law School. After tutoring today I didn’t feel like going home… so I decided to go watch Transformers. I went on my own… partially cuz I didn’t want to ask others, esp. b/c there is a test tomorrow, and I should probably have started studying right away, and partially b/c it was an impromptu, in the moment decision.

This brings me to the topic of social interactions between the genders. Most of the women here wear a head scarf. Surprisingly, many dress very similar to the way sisters in the West dress. Its surprising, b/c the only other Muslim country I have spent extensive time in is Pakistan… and when the women there wear a head scarf, they don’t wear tight pants/skirts/shirts with it. But here, Allahu’Alim, the scarf is part of fashion. Malls here are filled with young sisters donning head scarves hanging out w/ guys, out on dates, and just out entertaining themselves. It was somewhat surprising to see b/c not many women wear head scarves generally in America, and many of the ones that do usually also adopt certain attitudes and manners of conducting themselves. At least that is what I have observed. So it was strange to see otherwise. But Allahu Alim… I’m not in a position to judge people’s intentions. And that is all I will say on this topic b/c sisters tend to get a bit edgy when a brother discusses it… perhaps with good reason.

And this brings me to a final point. Many brothers studying Arabic in Cairo are British. What we call MSA’s, they call ISOCs (Islamic Society of College….i think). The 2 are run very differently. Brits are much more strict about segregating the genders than Americans. When I tell these brothers that I’m the vice president of the MSA… and the president is a female… their reaction is priceless. The look of unbelief on their faces… followed by a “Astagfurallah” (asking Allah for forgiveness). “A woman as a president? A’udhubillah! … Men are the protectors of women… no nation shall succeed that has a woman as their leader…” Then I tell them how our Shura meetings are run.., we just all sit around a table, the brothers and sisters. “What? No curtain, no separation?” Then I decided to show them some of our MSA pics… like the Eid Dinner pics, or some study break pics… pretty much showing them how there isn’t complete segregation… and then I say, “Ya, Alhumdulillah our MSA is progressive” and they don’t know what to say. They have a difficult time swallowing the fact that women can be leaders as well. For many its just unheard of, so they find it strange. In their ISOCs, at least the ones of the brothers I have talked with, women play more of an advisory role to the Shura. In fact, they don’t even have elections, the old shura selects the new shura. I think each type of organizations has its pros and cons… though ultimately i prefer our MSAs… maybe its the American bias.  But Salafis man… gotta love ‘em.

Salaam,

Mohsin

 Apologies for a late update.  The internet is really slow here, and whenever I get the opportunity go use it, I use it to speak w/ family back home, which leaves little time for uploading pics  and updating blogs.  Ma’alaysh…

Last week I went to see some Islamic locations in Old Cairo… namely the Citadel of Salahuddin (which includes the Muhammad Ali Moque and the Green Mosque), Sultan Hassan Madrassah, Masjid al-Raafi, and Masjid al-Azhar.  I’ve posted the pics, but haven’t had time to label them all. 

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s169/familypix_1/Egypt/Islamic%20Cairo/

 Subhanallah… being in the masjids and sites was breathtaking… so much history…. so much knowledge… a reminder of our lost glory.

The visit to the Sultan Hassan madrassah was perhaps the most emotional for me that day.  It was established by a Mamluk Sultan some 700 years ago.  It is a masjid and was an institution of learning as well.  Like many of the old masajids, it looks beautiful.  Its architectural design is also magnificent, allowing for ventillation of air that leaves the interior a nice cool temperature even when it is scorching hot outside.  But what really got to me was imagining the place filled with shuyookh and student of knowledge.  The place is unique in that there is a section for each of the 4 sunni madhabs (schools of thought)… one for the Shafi’is, Hanafis, Hanbalis, and Malikis.  Students would come to study from all schools, and the scholars from each of the Madhabs would discuss and debate with each other.  Subhanallah… what a site that would have been.  Adherents of different schools of thought all learning, praying, discussing with each other in one location.  And different lectures going on in different corners of the Masjid.  You hear the call for prayer, and they call head towards the central wudu fountain located in the middle of the masjid, and then everyone proceeds towards the prayer area.  It just beautiful.

Just imagining that picture makes me think of today, and ask, Where is the Love? 

The Muhammad Ali Mosque looks really nice from the outside… but then u learn that it was built as a place to bury Muhammad Ali… the “Father of Modern Egypt”.  What a waste of space.  The Prophet had explicity forbidden building structures over graves, and taking graves as places of worship.  Yet masjids all over Cairo are either built on grave, or have graves in it. But Alhumdulillah there are masjids all over the place, so if one masjid is built on a grave, you can find one where it is acceptable to pray in like 5 min away. 

Notwithstanding graves in Masjids… you can really feel the love in Cairo.  Heres why:

1. Praying 5 times a day in Masjids…. its such a HUGE blessing.

2. I made this really good friend at the Masjid…. an 8 year old boy named Mazen, who has an identical twin also named Mazen.  He speaks only in the local slang, and understands very little proper Arabic… so we can’t really communicate through speech.  But that doesn’t stop us from wrestling, hanging out, and racing each other down the street.

3.  I can say Salaam to random ppl on the streets, and they’ll repond back.  Can’t do that in America.

4. SO apparently if you compliment an article of clothing that somebody is wearing, he will offer to give it to you. For free.  Apparently its part of Egytpian culture.  I told this brother that his shirt looks really nice, Masha’Allah, and he thanked and askmed me if I wanted it, and insisted I take it if I like it.  Later somebody explained that its part of their culture.  Subhanallah.  Though I can imagine it easily being taken advantage of… if I come back with some niiice clothing… u know where I got it from.

Mohsin

 Classes have started, and Alhumdulillah they have been pretty good.  Its all in Arabic, so the first few days it was realy tough adjusting.  They are from 8pm to 1pm, Saturday-Wednesday.  THursday and Friday are weekends for us.  There are a total of 6 ppl in my class, 3 Muslims and 3 non-Muslims.  THe other 2 Muslims are from Sweeden(Originally Bosnian) and Russia.  The first day of class, the teacher gave us (the Muslims) the following advice, in Arabic of course:

 1. Before beginning our Arabic studies, making the right intention.  We are here to study Arabic to better understand our own Deen, and ultimatley to attain the pleasure of Allah. We all know of the Hadith: “Verily, intentions are judged by intentions…”  The teacher also told us of a narration, where a man had the niyah to give charity the size of Mt. Uhud, and the Prophet told him he would rewarded as if he had actually given that much charity.

2. Continually renew your niyah.  The Shaytaan is constantly trying to make us forget why we are doing something.  We need to keep reminding ourselves of our own intentions. 

 3. Thank Allah for giving us the opportunity to study Arabic.  There are so many Muslims in the world not fortunate enough to travel to study Arabic.  We should always say Alhumdulillah for the blessing He has given us.

 4.  Now that we are beginning our Arabic studies, we have a huge responsibility ahead of us.  This isn’t like taking a class at my university.  This is for the sake of Allah, not for any grade or wordly benefits.  We have the responsibility to continue our Arabic studies, and use the knowledge we gain to further study Islam.  Many Muslims will be forgiven for sins b/c of their ignorance, but we have been blessed with the opportunity to learn Islam, and won’t be able to make that excuse. 

 Insha’Allah I’ll be able to keep these words in mind during the rest of my studies. Speaking of being here for the purpose of studying…. I went to the Pyramids yesterday (Thursday).  It was a day off, and the center I am studying at, Fajr Center for Arabic Studies, organized the trip.

You can check out some of the pics here: http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s169/familypix_1/Egypt/Giza/

 Few comments aboug Giza:

1. It was extremely hot.. I think it might have gotten up to 105 degrees!  I bought a Gutra (a head covering) to protect me from the summer. 

2. I love Cairo.  But I almost Giza.  Too many tourists… too hot… and the ppl there r only after ur money.

3. Pyramids are overrated. 

4. Best part about the trip was riding horses in the desert… and wearing the Gutra.

Everyone here thinks im Egyptian.  A few ppl have asked me if I’m Syrian or Yemeni.  I guess i’ve just got that Arab look. 

Somethings I’ve been thinking about:

1. How have I not seen a car accident yet?  Wallahi, I’ve never seen such crazy driving in my life.  Its worse than Pakistan.  From driving against traffic, to never stopping for pedestrians… Cairo has the best/worst drivers in the world maybe.  Subhanallah… if i don’t see a car accident before I leave, I’ll really be impressed.

2. Little Egyptian kids are very cute… especially when they r running around all day and night.

3. Which leads me to… What if I were to marry an Egyptian?….

Salaam,

Mohsin

This is my first post, and it covers the past few days. Its going to really long, but future posts Insha’Allah will be much shorter.  Feel free to comment.  I have a cell phone here… sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.  I also have a room phone.  Receiving calls on both is free for me.  If you want any of the numbers, just email me.I’ll be posting all my pictuers on photobucket. Here is the first set of pictures from Dubai: http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s169/familypix_1/Dubai/

Alhumdulillah I’ve safely made it to Egypt. It was a LONG trip; I left Sunday night from LA, and arrived in Cairo about 6:30 pm Tuesday Night. The Airline I used was Emirates Airlines. I don’t travel internationally often, but Alhumdulillah, it’s a very good airline. The food was good, the service was good, and the entertainment system was really good. I made a stop at Dubai for almost an entire day. It’s a really amazing airport actually, and has wireless internet all over. Additionally, it also has an area where you can use the internet for free on computers. I decided to go out of the airport and take a look around, since it was my first time in Dubai. I didn’t want to get a taxi since its more expensive. Fortunately, I found Zubayr Bhai. He was an Indian brother who used his 2003 Toyota Camry as an unofficial taxi cab, and also was my unofficial tour guide, taking me all over Dubai. Check out the link to see the pic of him: http://s152.photobucket.com/albums/s169/familypix_1/Dubai/

Getting into a car w/ a complete stranger in a foreign country where I can’t really speak the native language (Arabic), and having no phone or contact in Dubai brings me to the first theme I want to reflect on: TawakkululAllah.

Tawakkul of Allah means putting your trust into Allah. Allah says in Surah Talaq, ayah 3, “Whoever puts his trust in Allah, Allah is sufficient for him.” Putting your trust in Allah doesn’t mean being passive, it means doing everything in your means, and then leaving the rest to Allah, believing He will look after and provide for you. My entire trip from LA to Cairo has been all about realizing this concept. At the airport in LA, I was stopped from receiving my boarding pass b/c I didn’t have a visa for Egypt (I didn’t have time to get one. My trip was about to end before even starting. My dad had spent close to $1800 buying my ticket, now what? I was there with my brother, and he was visibly worrying, more than me. I was worried, but I didn’t really show any of it, and my brother looks at me and asks, “Dude, how are you so calm?” I told him there is nothing I can really do; its out of my hands. Whatever happens will happen. I called up my dad, afraid he would be angry that I didn’t get my angry visa before hand. Surprisingly he wasn’t, he just said “Whatever happens, Alhumdulillah.”

And Alhumudlillah, I was able to get on that flight. The rebooking agent was competent enough to realize that I can get my visa upon arrival, and gave me my boarding pass.

When I got to Dubai, and got in the car with a complete stranger… I’m not sure yet whether that falls under Tawakkul of Allah or just plain stupidity. But it was well worth it. And I was able to have a nice little chat with Zubayr Bhai and practice my Urdu.

Arriving to Cairo was all about putting my trust in Allah. I had no visa, I had no idea what the brother who was picking me up looks like, no phone to call him with, no address, he had seen a pic of me, but that’s it. We had never actually spoken. We had exchanged emails though. He was a friend of my friend from University of Chicago, Fahd. I get my bags and exit out of the airport, and there is a HUGE crowd of ppl waiting for people arriving. This was not going to be easy. I exited the airport, b/c the arrivals area was just too congested for me. I stood outside the terminal for close to an hour, while every couple mins somebody would come up to me and say “Taxi?” and I would say no. After about 30 mins, a few of the taxi drivers would start asking is somebody coming to pick me up, or where do I want to go. And I would reply in my broken Arabic, “I will go with my friend.”

Finally, I just decided to go in, and see if I could find the brother in there. How I was going to do it, I wasn’t exactly sure. But I figured I would just wing it… that’s how I usually do things anyways. I knew he was British, young, and I knew he was Salafi. With those 2 facts, I started searching for young guys that looked like they were from the West, and had beards. Most of the people that were dressed in pants and shirts were beardless. The only young guys with beards were ones dressed in traditional Egyptian clothing, and they didn’t look like foreigners. Then I spotted a guy wearing pants and shirt, he had a small beard… he looked Desi. But he had a backpack, and was about sit down. I thought maybe he just gotten off a flight, but I approached him anyways, making sure that the “University of Chicago” on my shirt was clear and visible. I looked him, he looked at me, and he asks in a British accent, “Are you Mohsin?” And I’m like “Yes!” and he smiles and says his name, and Alhumdulillah I was able to leave the airport.

The last example of Tawakkul of Allah happened last night, after I had moved into my apartment. I lived about 10 mins by taxi from the brother who had picked me up from the Airport. A lot of young British brothers were leaving in the area he lived, all here studying Arabic and Islam. My first night in Cairo, I had stayed up the entire night talking with a couple of them. One of them was Awan… from the same tribe as me. He had been in Egypt for a year, studying Arabic, Fiqh, Tajweed, and other stuff. He was leaving the next day. So the next day, after I have moved to my apartment, I figured I would go visit him before he leaves at night. That would entail getting a taxi, telling him to take me where my fellow clan-member lives, and then catching another taxi, telling him where I live, so I could come back. I had no idea where I was living. I had a piece of paper that had the address of my place, but it was written in such horrible Arabic handwriting I couldn’t read it. I had some sort of idea where my new friends were living, however. I knew it was near this place called “Suqqa Seeraat”. Apparently its well known, and every cab driver knows where it is. Its like a huge lot, and there is a water tower near it. I remembered that the water tower was visible from my friend’s balcony, and I figured if I could reach that water tower, I would eventually be able to find my way to his apartment. Once there, I would just spend the night, and figure out some way to come back to my apartment in the morning. Once again, I would be winging it.

So I get a taxi cab, which itself was somewhat of a hassle, and tell him “Suqqa Seraat”, and he repeats “Su’aa Seerat?” Egyptians for some reason drop the “Q” sound when they are speaking colloquial Arabic. Anyways, he agrees, and hes driving me there. We drive for about 15 mins, and then he pulls over. I have no idea where he has stopped, so I tell him “Laysa Hunaa” which I think means “Not Here” He started saying stuff to me in Egyptian colloquial. I had no idea what he was saying… but then I thought he said that he had passed it, but it was just around the corner. I give him some money and I exit the cab.

I seriously had no clue as to where I was. It was about 11pm at night. Imagine being some place where you don’t know the language, its only your second night there, , and you are completely lost. Once again, things seemed hopeless, but after my previous encounters, I honestly was 100% certain that I would find my friends apartment…no joke… Tawakull of Allah. Allah would find a way for me. I walked around for at least 30 mins, wandering aimlessly. Finally, in the distance I saw a water tower. I thought maybe that’s the one. So I began walking towards it. From there, it only took me another 10 mins to find the brother’s apartment. I think I arrived there like 11:45pm. Alhumdulillah. If my mom knew the stuff I went through, she would be freaking out.

So, the phrase for the week is TawukkalulAllah… putting your Trust in Allah.

“If you put you tawwkul in Allah the way that He deserves, He would provide for you like he provides for the birds. The birds leave their houses early in the morning on an empty stomach, and arrive late at night on a full stomach.” – Saying of the Prophet, from Tirmidhi.

Salaam,

 Mohsin